82:Tapochki

 A couple of my young students last night, especially those that haven't yet travelled outside Russia, were astounded at some of the cultural differences between our great nations. As usual I am making no judgements about whether one custom is somehow "better" than the other. 

The first difference is that Russians take off their shoes as soon as they go into a house or apartment - either their own or somebody else's. Usually the host will have a few sets of slippers (тапочки) by the door for the family or guests to wear. When I explained that we usually leave our shoes on, especially when visiting somebody else, they were dumbfounded.




When I was here in the 70s, working in the British Embassy, we all used to think that there were a lot of thieves about because there were no sink or bath plugs in the hotels we were "lucky" enough to visit. It's only now I've come to realise that they weren't there because Russian people simply don't use them. They shave (those that need to) and wash their dishes, faces etc under running water. Water, in the Russian mind-set, is an infinite resource. Nobody considers the cost of treatment and preparation and storage etc of the water. My students had difficulty believing that I fill a washing-up bowl with hot water to wash my dirty dishes - and then I dry them afterwards. Instead of washing them under running water and leaving them to drain in the special draining cupboard that is above most Russian sinks. 
Those Russians who have visited UK have expressed enormous surprise at our (old) system of having 2 separate taps - one for hot and one for cold. Generally they have mixer taps.
One more thing, while I'm on the subject of water. I think I may have mentioned it before but I feel it is worth mentioning again that most Russian apartments have their hot water turned off for 10-14 days in the Summer so that the pipes can be repaired/renewed prior to the next Winter. Imagine that happening in Britain!
Time to sign off or I will be in hot water (Я попаду в беду).